Craftsmanship Permeating Our Production Workplaces Yamaha Motor Newsletter (Dec 8, 2020 No. 82)

At Yamaha Motor’s manufacturing and production sites, we revel in the challenge to create ever more beautiful and higher quality products as well as relish the search for real improvements and greater advances. We value our workplace culture that blends tradition with innovation, and see that our hard-won skills and proven technologies are handed down to the next generation.
Underpinning it all is our unwavering dedication to our craftsmanship. In an illogical yet invaluable approach unique to Yamaha, we add on extra touches in each stage of the production process, thereby building the pride and special sense of each specialist into our work.
Delivering the best product possible to our customers is at the heart of everything we do.

Making Our Craftsmanship Visible

A worker examining the finish of a polished aluminum fuel tank (top) and another hand-painting exterior chassis parts in the paint shop (bottom)

“Our Monozukuri worksites are based on the idea of pursuing production methods rooted in logic,” explains a chief manager at one of Yamaha’s motorcycle factories. “But at the same time—and this may seem contradictory—we have a valued tradition of taking illogical extra steps to give our products added value unique to Yamaha. In other words, these extra steps are what express the craftsmanship found at production and manufacturing sites across the Yamaha Motor group.”
    Things began when this chief manager received a request from upper management one day: “We want customers to be able to see and appreciate the value produced at our Monozukuri worksites.” The reasons for this request was because the various Monozukuri processes that the average customer would find very inspiring were simply considered as “expected from a professional” and the pride and spirit of the workers and their workplaces was essentially confined to their own circles.
    “For the company, the uniquely Yamaha craftsmanship found at our worksites is a valuable asset and I think management understood that it plays an important role in enhancing our brand’s value. At the same time, for us on the factory floors, the request presented a great opportunity to really remind ourselves that the knowledge and skills we have are integral to the Yamaha brand,” says the manager.

Monozukuri Branding Right from the Floor

The heat treatment process for gears at a forging factory

But this is where things became difficult. Representatives from Yamaha’s various factories and production worksites gathered together to define what Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship is and to then elevate that into a branding effort. They first established a common understanding amongst themselves for what elements they felt define craftsmanship in general, and then looked to specify what sets Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship apart from that. They identified tasks and skills that convey exacting care and attention to detail that were nurtured in their respective work areas and production processes. Then, after the day’s work was over, the project members would then head from their factories to Yamaha Motor headquarters for repeated discussions.
    The team also proactively visited the worksites and factories of different industries. “By observing the processes used in other fields, we were able to understand early on that the value customers feel is quite different from our own perceptions of value,” one member confesses. “This was big because it gave us the deep understanding that even the illogical extra steps we take can result in qualities customers find appealing.” For example, the team observed the manufacturing process at Yamaha Corporation for building grand pianos. “Craftsmen were spending six hours hand-carving wooden pieces that could be made in only 40 minutes by machine. But I felt that the smell of the wood and the sound of the carving work that filled the air there was priceless.”
    Activities like these and numerous discussions resulted in the core of Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship being defined as the “illogical yet invaluable extra steps” taken in the manufacturing and production process. This was how Yamaha’s Monozukuri branding began.

The Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship Website

So, what exactly are the “illogical yet invaluable” extra steps taken at Yamaha’s manufacturing and production sites? For example, the atelier for hand-spraying paint in a paint shop where tasks are increasingly done automatically by robots. Other examples include the buffing process used to create the beautiful hairline finish on aluminum fuel tanks, the cell manufacturing area where a single craftsman assembles an entire engine, and the innovative measurement method devised for ensuring higher dimensional precision with casting molds. Yamaha’s illogical yet invaluable extra steps are performed in all these places and processes.
    The new  Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship website was launched to show the world the finely honed techniques, eyes, hands and minds of the masters at work in Yamaha’s manufacturing and production factories. The website introduces several areas where the illogical yet invaluable extra steps our craftsmen take help ensure we deliver the best product possible to our customers.

Video: Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship

Website: Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship

https://global.yamaha-motor.com/design_technology/craftsmanship/